Car-caging device



Oct. 30, 1926. j 1,689,466

T. E. WEETHEE CAR (.JAGING DEVICE Filed Sept- 15. 1927 Y 4 Sheets-Sheet2 Oct. 30, 1928. 1,689,466

'r. E. WEETHEE CAR CAGINGHDEVICE Filed Sept- 15. 1927 4 Sheets-Sheet 353' 1 YVLW/HO 77, a 7/ 3 M "loaded car.

Patented Oct. 30, 1928.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE...

THOMAS E. WEETHEE, OF DACONO, COLORADO, ASS'IGNOR OF ONE-HALF TO THE"CON- SOLIDATED COAL AND COKE COMPANY, OF DENVER, COLORADO, .A.CORPORATION OF COLORADO.

Application filed September This invention relates to improvements incaging devices of the type employed in coal and other deep mines wherethe coal cars are hoisted to the surface of the ground bymeans ofelevators or hoists.

In mines of all kinds, and especially in coal mines where mining is doneat some distance below the surface of the ground and in which theproducts of the mine must behoisted, it iscustomary to load the coal orother material onto mine cars which are then transferred over tracks toa hoist. This hoist usually consists of two cages that areinterconnected in such a way that when one moves upwardly,

the other one moves downwardly. \Vhen one of thecages is at itslowermost position, one of the mine cars is loaded onto this cage andthe hoist is'then operated so as to raise this car to the surface. Whenthis cage is moving up wardly,the-other cage is moving downwardly andcarries an empty car, which serves as a counterweight for the cage thatcarries the In some mines the cars are directed onto the cage by manuallabor which requires the attendance of several men at the bottom of theshaft. In other mines, however, some caging device is employedthatfacilitates the operation of caging the cars.

It the object of this invention to produce a mechanism by means of whichthe caging of cars at the bottom of a mine shaft will become practicallyautomatic so as to require the attendance of only one person whose soleduty is to disconnect the cars and to be present in case an unexpecteddifficulty should arise.

My invention, briefly described, consists in thecombination of twointerconnected cages, means for simultaneously raising one and loweringthe other and two parallel tracks which terminate at the edge of thesump at the bottom of the shaft and which support loaded cars, togetherwith means for holding these cars against movement and means rotatedbythe downward movement of the cages for releasing one of the cars and fordirecting it onto the cage. that is at its lowermost position, togetherwith means for preventing any further release of cars on that trackuntil the cage has been to the top and has returned to its bottommostposition.

The above'invention can be most clearly described and willbemostreadilyunderstood if reference is had to the accompanying draw- 15, 1927.Serial No. 219.665.

ings in which the preferred embodiment thereof has been illustrated andin which:

Fig. l is a plan view showing the two parallel tracks'at the-bottom ofthe mine, the-two snmps at the. bottom of the cage shafts and showingalso one of the cages in position to receive a mine car;

Fig. 2 is a section taken along line 22, Fig. 1, and shows, in addition,a mine car held in the position it occupies just before it is releasedby the downward movement of the cage;

Fig. 8 is a plan view of that portion of the tracks that is adjacent tothe sumps the parts being shown to a somewhat larger scale than thecorresponding parts in Fig. 1;

Fig. 4 is a fragmentary view of the part shown in 3 and shows theinterlock mechanism in the opposite position from that which it occupiesin Fig. 3;

Fig. 5 is a section taken on line 55, Fig. 3, and indicates by dottedlines the position of the trip lever that is engaged by the cages whenthey return to the bottom of the shaft;

Fig. 6 is a section taken on line 66, Fig. 3, and shows the means forlocking the interlock mechanism inneutral position;

Fig. 7 is a section taken on line 77, Fig. 4, and shows the meanswhereby the interlock mechanism is shifted whenever a car is transferredto one of the cages;

Fig. 8 is a section takenon line 8-8, Fig. 3, and shows one of the carstops in operative position;

Fig. 9 is a section takenon line 99, F and shows the mechanism by meansof which the car feeder mechanism is controlled as the cars move alongthetrack;

Fig. 10 is a horizontal section through the mechanism that controls theoperation of the car feeding deviceand shows the-clutch in section;

Fig ll is a view to a somewhatenlarged scale of the upper surface of oneend of the car feeding mechanism and is taken looking in the directionof arrow 11, in Fig.2;

Fig. 12 is a section taken on line 1212, Fig.11, and I Fig. '13 is asectiontaken on line. 1313, Fig. 12.

In the drawings numerals 1 and 2 represent the sumps at the bottom'ofthe mine shaft and numeral 3 indicates one of the cages which has beenshown in its lowermost position. Numeral 4 represents the guides whichdirect the movement of the cage as it moves upwardly and downwardly.

The mechanism by means of which the cages are operated has not beenshown for the reason that this has nothing to do with the invention asany old and well known hoisting mechanism is employed for the purpose ofoperating the cages. Attention is called, however, to the fact that thecages 3 are connected by means of cables which run over a drum locatedat the top of the shaft and to each end of which a cage is connected sothat when one occupies the position shown in the drawing, the other oneis at its uppermost position where the mine cars are unloaded. In Fig. 21 have shown a mine car which has been indicated by reference numeral 5.

At the bottom of the mine two tracks 6 are provided. These tracks are ofthe ordinary mine railway construction and the rails are secured to andrest on the upper surface of ties 7. Located between the two rails ofeach track is a car feeding mechanism which has been indicated as awhole by reference numeral 8 and which will hereafter be described morein detail. That section of the tracks which has been indicated. by A hasa slight upward inclination and merges into a short section B which ispreferably level and from the end of section B tl it part which has beendesignated by letter C h as a downward inclination and terminates at theedge of one of the sumps. These tracks extend into the mine as far asmay be desired, but the only parts that are concerned with my inventionhave been shown in Figs. 1 and 2.

Supporting posts 9 and 10 have been shown at the line separating the twosumps. These posts carry a shaft 11, one end of which is journalled in asuitable bearing in post 9 and the other end of which passes entirelythrough post 10 and terminates in a crank disk 12 that carries a crankpin 13. Carried by the shaft 11 is a trip bar 14, whose shape has beenshown by dot and dash lines in Fig. 5 from which it will be seen thatthe ends 15 are curved in the same direction. The center portion of thetrip bar 14 lies at right angles to a diameter that intersects the crankpin 13 at a point half way between its ends in the manner shown in Fig.5. Secured to the under side of the adjacent rails of the two tracks areguides having a downwar dly extending part 16 that has an openingthrough which the transverse bar 17 of the interlock mechanism passesand through which the bars 18 also pass. It will be observed from Fig. 5that the bar 17 has a U-shaped member 19 secured to the side that isadjacent the crank disk 12 and which projects over the crank pin 13 sothat the latter will engage the parallel sides 20 of the U-shaped memberas the shaft 11 is rotated about its axis. The bar 17 carries twoupwardly extending projections 21 which are adapted to cooperate withthe ends of the locking members 22 so as to interlock bars 17 and 13when they move in one direction, as will be hereinafter more fullyexplained. The bars 18 extend entirely across the tracks and have theirends pivotally connected at 23 to the outer ends of the arms 24 of thebell cranks, which are pivoted at 25. The other arms 26 of these bellcranks are pivoted at 27 to connecting rods 23, whose other ends arepivotally connected at 29 to the outer ends of the arms 30 of the bellcranks that are pivoted at 31, and whose other arms 32 are pivoted at 33to connecting rods 34 that extend across the tracks and have their otherends pivoted at 35 to the lower ends 36 of the stops 37 that rotateabout the shafts 38. The shafts 38 are journalled in bearings 39 and acoil spring 40 separates one side of the car stop 37 from one of thehearings in the manner shown most clearly in F ig. 3. The function ofspring 40 is to permit the stops 37 to yield when they receive theimpact due to the moving car which they are designed to stop in a mannerwhich will be hereinafter more fully described.

A shaft 41 is j ournalled in bearings in the flanges of the rails andcarries two cam members 42 and 43 which project in substantiallyopposite directions in the manner indicated in Fig. 3. These cam membersare so arranged that when one of them has its upper surface at the levelof the upper surface of the rail with which it is associated, in themanner shown in Fig. 6, the other cam member will project above the topof the rail in the manner shown in Fig. 2. Shaft 41 also carries twocrank arms 44 and 45, one of which projects upwardly and the other ofwhich projects downwardly in the. manner shown in Figs. 3 and 6.Pivotally connected to the outer end of each of these crank arms areconnecting rods 46 and 47, whose other ends are pivotally connected tothe pins 22 that slide in the openings provided in heads 48 that formpart of the rods 18. A lever 49 is also secured to the shaft 41 andextends through the slot that is formed between the two parallel sidesof the guide member 50. Arm 49 is provided with a hole 51 and the armsof the guide member are also provided with holes 52. These holes are sore lated that they can be brought into register so that av pin may bepassed through the holes 52 and through the hole 51, thereby locking theshaft 41 against rotation in such a position that the pins 22 will notproject through the heads 48, but will be held in neutral position sothat they cannot cooperate with the projections 21. The purpose of thiswill be made clear as the description proceeds. Normally the handle 49is free to move and it is apparent that when a car passes over the railwith which one of the cams 42 or 43 is associated that the weight of thecar wheel will force this cam downwardly in case its upper surfaceprojects over the upper surface of the rail. In Fig. 3 the cam 43 isshown projecting upwardly above the rail surface, whereas cam 42 islocated so that its upper surface is flush with the upper surface of therail in the .manner shown in Fig. 6. If a car is released on the trackX, with which cam 43 is associated, it will force this cam downwardly,thereby rotating the shaft 41 in such a position that the pin 22 that isshown extended will be retracted and the corresponding pin 22 on theother side will be projected into the position shown by the pin nearesttrack X in Fig. 3. With the parts in the position shown in Fig. 3, it isnot possible for the pin 22 adjacent track Y to be projected as it willhit the side of lug 21, but in actualoperation the crank disk 12'isrotated through an angle of substantially ninety degrees whenever one ofthe cages comes down to its lowermost position and the parts are sorelated that when the shaft 41 is rotated by means of a car, the rod 17will be in the proper position to permit the pins 22 to be reciprocatedin the manner described. This will all appear when the operation of thedevice is described in detail as it willbe'hereina fter.

Secured to the outer rail of each of the tracks between the shaft 41 andthe edge of the cage pits is a cam 53 that is secured to the shaft 54.This shaft has one end journalled in a bearing in the rail and the otherjournalled inthe bearing 55. The outer end of shaft 54 carries a crankarm 56 to which is pivotally connected a rod 57. The other end of thisrod is pivoted at 58 to a. pin secured to the connecting rod 28 at 59.When the car stops 37 are moved from operative to inoperative positionbythe action of the cages striking the ends of arm 14, a. car isreleased and moves downwardly along the incline section G towards thecage. As the car moves it strikes either the cam 42, or the cam 43,depending on which of the tracks the car is located. As the car passesover cams 42 or 43, it disconnects the interlock mechanism bywithdrawing the pin 22 in the manner above described. As the car movesfarther towards the cage, it will strike the cam 53 and move this camdownwardly, thereby rotating the shaft 54 in such a way as to move theconnecting rod 28 towards the left in Fig. 3 and thereby causing the carstop 37 to be moved into operative position so as to prevent another carfrom following on the same track. 7

Pivoted to one of the rails of each track is a cam 60. This cam isnormally held in the position shown in Fig. 9 and rests on the free endof the arm 61 that is secured to one end of the shaft 62. This shaft isjournalled in bearings 68 and its otherend carries an arm 64 that isengaged by one end of the lever 65 (Fig. 10). Lever 65 is pivoted at 66to the end of a bracket 67. This bracket is secured to the end of a box68 that contains a clutch and transmission mechanism which will shortlybe describe ;l. A rod 69 extends through an opening in the end-of thebox 68 and carries a head 70 which is connected to the lever'65'by meansof a pin 71 that passes through an elongated slot in the lever. A

spring 72 has one end anchored in an opening in lug 73 and the other endsecured to the lever 65. This spring is under tension and tends to movethelever towards the box in the manner shown in Fig.10. Located withinthe box is a bearing within which is journalled a shaft 75, one end ofthis shaft carries a clutch member 76 and a collar is secured to theshaft at the other end of the bearing 74. The collar and a shoulder 'adjacent the clutch member 76 .preventthe shaft 7 5 from movinglongitudinally in the bearing. Shaft 7 5 is hollow and forms a bearingfor the smaller shaft 77. Shaft '77 extends entirely through the box 68that is located in track X and carries a belt wheel 78 to which power istransmitted from the motor 79 by means of the belt 80 in the mannershown in Fig. 1. hen the device is in operation shaft 77 is constantlyrotating. Secured to the shaft 77 within each of the boxes 68 is aclutch member '81 that is slidably connected to the shaft, butisheldagainst rotation by means of a spline in the ordinary manner. Clutchmember 81 has ahub'82 that is provided with a groove 83 for thereception of a collar or ring 84. A yoke member 85 is pivoted at 86 andis connected .to the collar so that when this yoke member is oscillatedabout its pivot, it will move its clutch member 81 longitudinally onshaft 77 from operative to inoperative position. The free end of yokemember 85 is connected to the inner end of the rod 69 by means of apivot pin 87. It will be observed from Fig. 10 that the spring 72 exertsa force tending to move the clutch member 81 into engagement with theclutch member 76 and when the parts are in the position shown. in thisfigure the rotation of shaft 77 will be communicated to shaft 75 throughthe friction clutch in a manner quite obvious from the drawing. Shaft 75carries a. worm 88 that engages a worm gear 89 which is secured to whichwill therefore be moved downwardly by the force exerted thereon by thecar. This downward movement of the cam 60 will to tate the shaft 62 insuch a way that the arm 64 will move the lever 65 in such a direction asto extend the spring 72. This n'iovement will rotate the yoke member 65about its pivot so as to disconnect the clutch member 81 "from theclutch member 76 and whenever this occurs the shat't will cease rotatingand as a result the chain 92 will stop moving. The chain 92 is anendless chain and passes around the sprocket wheels 91 and.corresponding sprocket wheels 93 at the other end. Secured to the chain92, at spaced intervals, are brackets 94 to which dogs or pawls 95 arepivotally connected by means o'l bolts 96. The brackets are of the shapeshown in Fig. 13 and have one end welded to one oil the links or thechain 92 in the manner indicated by numeral 97 in Fig. 13. The other endof the brackets is provided with a lug 98 that rests on one of the linksof the chain. but is not secured to the link. The pawls 95 have anopening into which the brackets 94 projects and are provided with heavylugs 99 that over-balance the weight of the upper end of the pawls so asto normally hold them in the position shown in Figs. 11, 12 and 13. Thebottom of the lugs 99 will therefore slide along the upper surface ofthe angle irons 100 which form guides for the chains 92. At point 101,Fig. 11, an angle iron 102 is secured in inverted position to the guideangle 100 in the manner shown in Fig. 12. When the pawls reach the point101, the lugs 99 will be raised upwardly and will slide on top of theangle 102, thereby rotating the pawls into the position shown by dot anddash lines in Fig. 13. The angle 102 extends the entire distance of thecar mo ing device and terminates adjacent the sprocket wheel 93 at apoint indicated by 103, in Fig. 1. The cars are provided with downwardlyprojecting lugs which will. be engaged by the pawls 95 when they are inthe position shown in full lines in Figs. 12 and 13, but will not beengaged by the pawls when they are in the position shown by dot and dashlines in Fig. 13, and therefore they can only move the cars in onedirection along the track.

In Figs. 1 and 3 I have shown spring members 104 that have one endfirmly secured to the ties in the manner indicated by reference numeral105 and which have their other ends pivotally connected with links 106.These links are pivoted to the arms 30 at 29 in the manner shown mostclearly in 3. The parts are so proportioned that the links 106 and thearms 30 form a toggle that will pass through neutral position wheneverthe car stops 37 are moved from operative to inoperative position, theformer position being shown in Fig. 3 and the latter position beingshown in Fig. 4. When the parts are in the position shown in Fig. 3, theforce exerted by springs 104 tends to hold the stops in operativeposition and when the parts are in the position shown in Fig. 4, theforce exerted by springs 104 tends to hold the car steps 37 ininoperative position. The object of providing the springs 104 is toprevent the stops "from being accidentally moved by some slight forcethat might be communicated to the mechanism unintentionally.

The operation of this device is as follows: Let us assume that thetracks X and Y extend into the mine for some distance and that a trainof cars is located on each track. These cars are the usual mine cars andare coupled by means of a link and a pin in the usual manner. That partof the track which has not been shown may be flat or inclined forwardlyto a slight extent. Let us now assume that this train of cars is movedby hand or by any other force until the first car comes over the carmoving mechanism 8 a sufficient distance to permit it to be engaged byone of the pawls 95. This car will then be moved forwardly towards thecages and will also move the entire train of cars which is coupled toit. This movement of the train will continue until the leading car getsinto such a position that one of its wheels will rest on the cam 60,when the clutch mechanism shown in Fig. 10 will be disconnected in themanner previously explained. The further movement of the train of carswill now cease and the operator will uncouple the leading car from thetrain. This car will now be in the position shown in Fig. 2 and willrest against the stop 37. From Fig. 2 it will be observed that thesection of the track upon which the car stands when it rests against thestop 37 is inclined slightly towards the cages so that it the stop 37 isremoved. the action of gravity will operate to cause the car to rolldownwardly towards the cage.

Vie will now suppose that one car like that indicated by numeral 5 restsagainst the car stop 87 on each track and we will furthermore assumethat the hoisting mechanism is put into operation so as to raise thecage 3 that is shown in its lowermost position in Fig. 1 andconsequently lower the other cage. WVhen the other cage or the one thatcorresponds to the sump 1, reaches its lowermost position, it willstrike the upper end of the trip bar 14 and rotate shaft 11 in such adirection that the bar 17 will move from the position shown in 3 to thatshown in Fig. 4. As the pin 22 that is nearest to track X is projected,the lug 21 on bar 17 will move the rod 18 inwardly in Fig. 3 until itreaches the position shown in Fig. 4. This movement will cause the bellcrank lever having arms 24 and 26 to rotate about its pivot and move theconnectingrod 28 towards the right, thereby rotating the other bellcrank about its pivot 31, so as to move the rod 34 in such a directionlUlI that the car stop 37, to which it is connected, will be moved fromoperative to inoperative position. hen this occurs the car that is heldon the track by this stop will start moving towards the cage. As soon asthis car has moved a sufiici'ent distance to remove the weight from thecam 60, the action of the spring 72 will rotate the shaft 62 and closethe clutch located in box (38, thereby making the car-moving mechanismoperative for the purpose of moving the cars forwardly along the track.As soon as the car that has been released has passed far enough alongsothat its rear wheel will be in front of the stop 37, it will strikethe cam 43 and move the same downwardly, thereby rotating the shaft 41so as to withdraw the pin 22 nearest the track on which the car islocated and project the corresponding pin 22-, which will then occupythe dotted line position shown in Fig. 4. As the car moves forwardly itwill engage the cam 53 and rotate the shaft 54 and thereby move the stop37 into operative position, and move bar 18 outwardly to the positionshown in Fig. 4. When the train of'cars has been moved by the car-movingmechanism so as to bring a carontocam 60, the clutch controlling thatparticular car-moving mechanism will be disconnected in the mannerpreviously described. The car that has been released will now pass ontothe cage which is in position to receive it and the hoisting mechanismwill be reversed, raising the cage with the loaded car. to the toplanding and lowering the other'cage with an empty car to the bottomlanding. As this other cage approaches the bottom landing it will.engage the trip lever 14: and release a car on track Y in the samemanner-as has just been de scribed. The caging of cars will now continuepractically automatic and will only require the presence of an attendantfor the purpose of removing the coupling pins and to be on hand in caseof any unforeseen occurrence that may require attention.

In Fig. 2 I have shown the track section A as being slightly upwardlyand forwardly inclined. This is the preferred construction as itprevents the movements of cars except when the car moving mechanism isin operation. It is possible, however, to make this section forwardlyand downwardly inclined so that the cars will move by the action ofgravity and when this is the construction employed, the pawls 95 must bereversed in such a way that they will act as stops that prevent the carfrom moving except when the cables 92 are in motion instead of pullingthem along in the manner described above.

Although I have described a specific mechanism for the purpose ofcarrying out my invention, I want it understood that the variouselements may be formed by mechanisms somewhat differently constructedand that I con sider that my invention resides more particularly in thecombination of elements than in the specific construction of theelements themselvesand it is therefore my intention to claim thisinvention broadly as a combination of means for performing the desiredresult with he understanding that the specific construction of the meansemployed may be varied to suit the conditions prevailing at thedifferentinstallations.-

The level section of the track which has been marked B performs animportant func tion as it slows down the front car so that the couplingchain will no longer be under tension whereby the operator can readilywithdraw the coupling pin soas to detach the front car from the train ofcars to which it was connected.

Having thus described my invention what is claimed as new is:

1-. A caging device comprising, in combination, a p air ofinterconnected cages adapted to move simultaneously, in oppositedirection, between vertically separated levels, two spaced tracks on thelower level, said tracks being adapted to support a plurality of cars,a. car stop associated with each track, means operated by thedownwardmovement of each cage for moving the stop associated with thecorresponding track to inoperative position whereby a car is permittedto pass along the track towards the cage, means operated by the car asit moves towards the cage for moving the stop to operative position andmeans operated by the car as it moves towards the cage for rendering thecage controlled stop operating means inoperative for again'removing thestop until the other cage has been at its lowermost position.

2. A caging device comprising, in combination, two cages, means forsimultaneously raising one cage and lowering the other, the cages beingadapted to move between vertically spaced levels, a track on the lowerlevel corresponding to each cage, a plurality of cars on each track, apower operated mechanism for moving the cars-towards the cages, a carstop associated with each track, means operated by the cages as theyapproach their lowermost position for moving the corresponding car stoptowards inoperative position whereby acar is released andpermitted tomove towards the cage, means operated-by the movement of the car forrendering the cage controlled car stop mechanism inoperative, meanscontrolled by the movement of the car for returning the car stop tooperative position and means controlled by the following car as itapproaches the car stop for rendering the car moving mechanismlnoperative.

3. A caging device comprising, in combination, two cages, means forsimultaneously raising one cage and for lowering the other, said cagesmoving between vertically spaced levels, two tracks on the lower level,one corresponding to each cage, a plurality of cars on each track, poweroperated mechamsm tor moving the cars along the track towards the cages,a car stop associated with each track, means operated by the car as itapproaches the car stop for rendering the car-moving mechanisminoperative, means operated by the downward movement of each cage tormoving the car stop on the corresponding track to inoperative positionwhereby a car is released and permitted to move towards the cage, meansfor rendering the car-moving mechanism operative, and means operated bythe car as it moves towards the cage for rendering the cage controlledcar stop mechanism inoperative.

t. A caging device comprising, in combination, two cages, means forsimultaneously raising one cage and for lowering the other, said cagesmoving between vertically spaced levels, two tracks on the lower level,one corresponding to each cage, a plurality of cars on each track, poweroperated mechanism for moving the cars along the track towards thecages, a car stop associated with each track, means operated by the caras it approaches the car stop for rendering the car-moving mechanisminoperative, means operated by the downward movement of each cage formoving the car stop on the corresponding track to inoperative positionwhereby a car is released and permitted to move towards the cage, meansfor rendering the car-moving mechanism operative, means operated by thecar as it moves towards the cage for rendering the cage contr lled carstop mechanism inoperative, and means also operated by the movement ofthe car towards the cage for moving the car stop into operativeposition.

5. A car caging device comprising two interconnected cages adapted tomove simultaneously in opposite directions between two vertically spacedlevels, two tracks on the lower level, one track corresponding to eachcage, said tracks having each a section adjacent the cage inclineddownwardly towards the cage, a substantially horizontal section joinmgthe inclined section, an inclined sectron joining the horizontalsection, a power operated car moving mechanism associated with the lastnamed inclined section, a car stop on. the downwardly inclined sectionand means comprising a cam located adjacent the car stop for renderingthe car moving mechanism operative and inoperative.

6. A car caging device comprising two 1nterconnected cages adapted tomove snnultaneously in opposite directions between two vertically spacedlevels, two tracks on the lower level, one track corresponding to eachcage, said tracks having each a section ad acent the cage inclineddownwardly towards the cage, a substantially horizontal section joiningthe inclined section, an inclined sec tion joining the horizontalsection, a power operated car moving mechanism assoclated with the lastnamed inclined section, a car stop on the downwardly inclined section,means comprising a spring for normally maintaining the car-movingmechanism operative and means comprising a cam member located adjacentthe car stop for rendering the car moving mechanism inoperative when acar is in position adjacent the car stop.

7. A car caging device comprising a car hoist having two cages which areinterconnected by means which makes them move simultaneously in oppositedirections between an upper and a lower landing, a track terminatingadjacent the lower position of each cage, said tracks supporting aplurality of cars, power operated mechanism associated with each trackfor moving the cars towards the cages, a car stop associated with eachtrack, means for normally maintaining the car moving mechanismoperative, means associated with each track for rendering the car movingmechanism inoperative whenever a car is in position adjacent the carstop, means operated by the cages as they approach their lowermostposition for moving the car stop on the corresponding track toinoperative position whereby a car is permitted to move towards thecage, means operated by the car as it moves towards the cage forrendering the cage controlled car stop means inoperative and means alsooperated by the movement of the car towards the cage for returning thestop to operative position.

In testimony whereof I aflix my signature.

THOMAS E. WEETHEE.

